The Philippines today is a mix of dozens of ethnic groups;
many of whom intermarried, while others remained somewhat isolated. Although people
have been living on the island that today consist of the Philippines for thousands
of years, the first great outside influence came in the 300s with Malays,
Indians, and others venturing inland as trade expanded into this region.
This influence came slowly as the people first just arrived and left for trading
purposes, but later became more permanent as their influence rubbed off on the locals,
particularly in the form of Buddhism and Hinduism being introduced.

Until the centuries later the islands remained isolated and unique as most outside
influences were contained to a particular region or island. During this time, particularly
beginning in the 900s, a number of islands rose up to regional power. Today's
Manila bay was a major trading hub to both Japan and
China as rulers in various other regions, such as Cebu became quite powerful.

This isolated trend continued for centuries, proven in the 1400s with the introduction
of Islam to the southern islands, in particular Mindanao. This religion took strong
hold in Mindanao, but failed to spread beyond these southern islands.

In 1521 Ferdinand Magellan arrived on his round the world expedition and, although
he was killed in the Philippines, he claimed the islands
for Spain. This led to colonization of the islands, which was a relatively simple
feat considering each island was isolated from the next so there was no unifying
force of resistance. It was during this time that the islands became known as the
"Spanish East Indies" or "Filipinas," after King Philip II of
Spain and hence the name "Philippines" was born.

The Spanish introduced Catholicism and education among other changes. Both were
well received by the locals and today the country remains primarily Catholic. From
the Spanish perspective, though the islands were not profitable. Perhaps only because
the islands were needed as a stronghold in Spain's wars with the Dutch and British did they maintain control over the Philippines.

Throughout the 1700s and 1800s the Spanish continued their emphasis on education,
religion, infrastructure, and communication on the islands. Although many view Spanish
rule as mostly positive, in the late 1800s independence movements were arising.

The Spanish-American War ended in 1898
with Spanish defeat and the United States' takeover of the islands. The
Filipinos fought this, but the US was too powerful and wanted to maintain
control over the islands. After a brief war and much debate, the US decided to grant
the Philippines independence over a long transition period, ending with complete
freedom in 1946. Unlike the Spanish, the Americans' focus was on economic development
and they made the Philippines are bigger player in the Far East's economic markets.

Before gaining full independence (although they had partial independence in 1935),
the Philippines were attacked by the Japanese
during World War II (WWII). This attack came quickly and a united resistance movement
within the archipelago nation quickly fell to the Japanese. Despite this, there
was much guerilla warfare among the locals and they continued to fight and attack
Japanese military outposts throughout the war. Due to this, the Filipinos were never
completely defeated, but the constant battle over the duration of the war caused
immeasurable damage and loss of life on the country.

At the conclusion of the war, the Philippines was granted
full independence, but with independence and after recovering from the war, the
political situation was disjointed and parties fought each other for power as some
even resorted to guerilla movements. This inconsistency and fast political turnover
continued through the 1960s.

The 1970s saw further protests, until the country was locked down under Martial
Law. This worked for some time, but they didn't appease the people's demand
for change. For the next decade or so, tensions continued and varying groups fought
for different issues. There were constant attempts to overthrow the government and
political stability was non-existent.

Since the late 1980s and early 1990s tensions have decreased. Muslim groups seeking
independence have stopped much of their violence and the constant string of attempted
coups has trickled to an occasion coup attempt now and again. The people still accuse
the government of corruption and the economy is still stagnant, but the country
seems to be heading in the right direction according to most observers and Filipinos.